Tokyo protests latest presence of Chinese Coast Guard
Tensions in the East China Sea remain as Japan stepped up its protests Wednesday against China for sending ships to the Diaoyu Islands.
Experts said it is China's sovereign right to send ships to the islands.
The Japanese Coast Guard lodged a protest against China for sending its own Coast Guard ships and fishing boats within 12 nautical miles of Diaoyu islands' waters on Wednesday, the 25th time this year, Japan's Kyodo News reported.
Lü Yaodong, director of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that China's ships will be patrolling the area more frequently mainly to safeguard fishermen during the current fishing season.
A Chinese fishing boat sank after colliding with a Greek-flagged cargo ship near the Diaoyu Islands on August 11. Four Chinese crew members were killed in the accident.
China also needs to intensify patrols in the area to uphold its sovereignty since the Malabar exercises jointly conducted by the US, Japan and India in June may have affected China, said Lü.
Japan's protests against China are groundless since the Chinese Coast Guard has the legitimate right to enter its country's territory, said Lü.
The increasing number of Chinese vessels sailing in the zone shows China has overtaken Japan in the number of Coast Guard ships, Yin Zhuo, a senior researcher at the PLA Navy Equipment Research Center, told the Global Times.
Yin said Japan has to accept the shift since the gap may even widen.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida summoned Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua on August 9 to protest Chinese moves around the Diaoyu Islands, said Kyodo News.
"We cannot accept that [China] is taking actions that unilaterally raise tensions," Kishida said, adding that "Japan-China relations are markedly deteriorating," according to a statement on the Japanese Foreign Ministry website.
Lü said Japan is intentionally raising the East China Sea issue and has violated the four-point consensus on improving China-Japan relations.
Japan has lodged multiple protests at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo and China's Foreign Ministry, saying it opposes the Chinese Coast Guard vessels' "intrusion" and urged the vessels to immediately leave the waters, according to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.
Responding to Japan's protests, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said "the Chinese side is working to properly manage the situation in the relevant waters" and hopes Japan honors its principled agreement with China and "deal with the current situation with a cool head."
